Recirculation opener and cleaner for the licker-in section of carding machines



Nov. 3, 1970 J. F. KING, JR 3,537,144

VRECIRCULATION OPENER AND CLEANER FOR THE LICKER-IN SECTION OF CARDING MACHINES Filed Sept. 20, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B JUCTION ("OLLECT/QIV JOUECs j I INVENTOR- J'AMz-s F. KING, 3'2.-

ATTORNEYS Nov. 3, 1970 J. F. KING. JR ,1

RECIRGULATION OPENER AND CLEANER FOR THE LICKER-IN SECTION OF CARDING MACHINES Filed Sept. 20, 1968 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 oo ocsc oooooo OQOQOOOOQQQOQOQOO ig-z JAMES F. KlNG, B-

ATTORNEY$ Patented Nov. 3, 1970 3,537,144 RECIRCULATION OPENER AND CLEANER FOR THE LICKER-IN SECTION OF CARD- ING MACHINES James F. King, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., asslgnor to The Bahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Sept. 20, 1%8, Ser. No. 761,131 Int. Cl. D01g /82 US. Cl. 19-107 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to pneumatic cleaning of carding machines, and more particularly to suction manifold structure for the licker-in section of a carding machine for pneumatically capturing and removing dust-like trash and lint, herein often generally referred to as fly, being discharged as blowout from the licker-in region of a carding machine during operation, and for recirculating tufts of cotton and usable cotton fibers entrained with this blowout back to the lap for reprocessing through the licker-in.

Much eifort has been devoted to the elimination or reduction of escape of fly, usually in the form of a mixture of short waste fibers and trash, from carding machines, especially as the problem of fiber and trash escape increased with increasing speeds of operation of the carding machines. It is important to eliminate or minimize the escape of such fibers and trash into the air in the textile machinery room, as the resultant contamination would produce unhealthy working conditions for the operators, impair the quality of the silver because of intermingling of the airborne trash therewith, and cause deposits of the contaminants on the machinery in the room creating fire hazzards and interference with operation of the machinery.

Various pneumatic cleaning devices have been proposed to effect suction withdrawal of fly from carding machines or various portions thereof to reduce the escape of the fly into the surrounding atmosphere. Particular effort has been devoted to the design of pneumatic cleaning equipment for preventing or reducing the escape of fly and similar trash from the licker-in region of the carding machine, as especially troublesome discharge of trash occurs in this region. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the licker-in section of a standard carding machine of the flats chain type includes a licker-in cylinder which rotates at high speed beneath a licker-in cover or bonnet and has teeth on its periphery to draw the cotton as fibers or tufts from a lap being fed thereto between a feed roll and feed plate and convey them downwardly in an arcuate path past mote knives or a fiber retriever section, to a main cylinder or swift. There, some of the cotton is transferred directly to the main cylinder, and some of it is impinged against the sharp knife edge of a back knife plate adjacent the main cylinder periphery and retained momentarily. Any cotton that is not immediately picked up off the knife edge or by the main cylinder is wiped off the knife edge by the rotating lickerin cylinder and is conveyed under the licker-in cover back to its original feed end location. Thus, a large quantity of usable fiber is being conveyed in a circular manner at all times underneath the licker-in cover and any opening in this cover will allow usable fibers to escape to the atmosphere. Obviously, there is also a large amount of waste spinning around this licker-in cylinder underneath the licker-in cover along with the cotton, and such waste tends to be centrifuged out to the outermost possible location. The slight separation or spacing at the junction between the exit edge of the licker-in cover and the back plate of the conventional card, and at the junction between the feed roll and the adjacent entrance edge of the lickerin cover each constitute junction openings or spaces through which this trash can escape.

Eflorts have been made to minimize blowout of cotton and fly at these locations by providing a seal or filler strip at the junction between the licker-in cover and back plate and a rotatable seal roller or scavenger roll bearing against the feed roll and overlying the junction between the feed roll and the licker-in cover. Neither of these seals, however, has provided a satisfactory solution to the problem of eliminating escape of trash from these zones, due in part to the inability to maintain a perfect seal at these junction orifices.

In an eifort to solve the problems of contaminant discharge from these licker-in regions, pneumatic cleaning devices in the form of suction manifold structures have been developed to establish a reduced air pressure region above the licker-in cover in communication with the junction openings between the licker-in cover and back plate and between the feed roll and the licker-in cover, to produce suction air streams which capture the trash and fly being discharged from these zones and withdraw the captured material to a remote collection facility. However, it has been found from studies of the captured material withdrawn from these junction openings, especially the opening between the licker-in cover and feed roll, when pressure is reduced above these openings that the amount of usable fiber removed increases rapidly as the air pressure is reduced below atmospheric pressure. For example, if one inch of water suction pressure is applied to the junction opening between the licker-in cover and feed roll (without a scavenger roll covering this opening), about 4.25 percent of usable cotton is Withdrawn as waste, and if even one-quarter inch suction pressure is applied, 2 percent of usable cotton is withdrawn, producing intolerable loss of good fiber. Exceedingly diflicult design problems are thus presented to achieve eflective cleaning by suction removal of fly and trash from these junction openings while keeping to an absolute minimum the loss of usable fiber carried away by suction.

Also, the licker-in cover presents problems, as it limits the licker-in speeds due to the air pumping action of the licker-in rotating immediately beneath the cover and the inherent increase in loss of good fiber as air recirculated by the licker-in increases, and the cover also retains seated on the licker-in teeth the fibers not transferred to the main cylinder and thus retards any unloading of the teeth as they progress from the back knife plate to the lap to receive more incoming fibers from the lap. However, increasing licker-in speeds above those normally employed achieves improved trash removal.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a suction manifold structure for use at the licker-in region of carding machines which produces suction pressure conditions for drawing air, and thus capturing trash and fly from the junctions between the feed roll and licker-in and between the licker-in and back plate of a carding machine, and which filters the captured material through the lap being presented to the feed roll to retain on the lap and recirculate through the licker-in any cotton fibers in the captured material.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel suction manifold for the. licker-in section of carding machines as defined in the immediately preceding paragraph, wherein the portions of the licker-in above and between the junctions of the licker-in and the feed roll and back knife plate are uncovered and directly exposed to the suction zone in the manifold, permitting partial unloading of the licker-in teeth during return toh ward the feed roll and higher licker-in speeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a vertical section view of the suction manifold structure of the present invention installed at the licker-in section of a carding machine, with fragmentary diagrammatic and sectional illustration of certain carding machine components, and 1 FIG. 2 is a vertical section view of the manifold structure taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, the suction cleaning and fiber retrieving manifold assembly of the present invention, indicated in general by the reference character 10, is shown in its proper relationship and reasonably to scale relative to the card components in the licker-in section of a conventional flat carding machine. This includes the usual lap roll 11, in the form of a rolled batt of cotton, shown in outline form, which rests on a revolving lap drive roller 12, so that the lap can be fed from the lap roll 11 along a feed path between a feed plate 13 and under feed roll 14 into the teeth of the licker-in cylinder 15. The licker-in cylinder is mounted for rotation in the usual manner about a shaft 15' supported by bearings on the usual apron or main frame of the carding machine. The cotton is drawn off the lap 11 at the raw edge of the batt 11a and conveyed downwardly as fibers or tufts past the usual series of note knives (not shown) or past a fiber retriever section 16 of conventional construction formed of vertical baffles 16a and screen bars 16b, and thence to the zone immediately below the lower edge of the back knife plates 17 where the fibers are either transferred directly to the spiked clothing 18 of the main cylinder 19 or are impinged and retained momentarily against the sharp lower knife edge 17a of the back knife plate and then reconveyed by the rotating licker-in cylinder back to the original feed end location. The usual flats chain 20 having flats bars 21 negotiates the usual path about the upper periphery of the main cylinder 19 defining a bight. above the lickerin where the flats chain rounds the flats idler 22 journaled on the usual stud or bolt 22a.

The manifold assembly 10 of the present invention includes an upper manifold section 24 defining a first suction chamber 24a above the licker-in 15 and feed 'roll 14 and the lap 11a and a lower manifold section 25 below the lap 11a between the latter and the feed plate 13 defining a second suction chamber 25a. The upper manifold section 24a is formed of a vertical plate 26 transversely spanning the width of the carding machine spaced above the feed roll 8 and joined at its upper end, as by welding, to a curved baflle sheet 27 extending from a location above the flats idler 22 outwardly adjacent the path of the outer flight of the flats chain 20 about the bight to a location closely adjacent the upper end of the back knife plate 17. An internal filler plate 28 is joined to the baflle sheet 27 at a location near the lowermost portion of the baflle sheet and inclines downwardly to join the vertical plate 26, to tend to keep the velocity up through the entire upper manifold section 24 and give a more positive direction to the flow of air and fibers. A cover plate 29, preferably of transparent mate rial, permitting observation of the interior of the suction chamber 24a, overlies the picker lap 11 entering the card. The cover plate 29 includes a handle 29a and is mounted to the vertical plate 26, for example, by outwardly projecting pins 30 at the upper edges of the cover plate 29 extending into companion guide brackets 31 having a guide slot 31a therein in which the pins 30 track to permit manual elevation of the cover plate 29 from the lower position illustrated in solid lines lying substantially in the extended inclined plane of the filler plate 28 to an upper position, shown in broken lines, wherein the pins 30 seat in the upper hook portions 31a of the slots 31a. In this upper position, the cover plate 29 swings straight downward to offer a partial seal but expose the feed roll for manual cleaning of contaminants therefrom or piecing a new lap between the feed roll and feed plate. The cover plate 29 acts as a safety device in this raised position to protect the machine tender from inadvertently getting his fingers in contact with the teeth of the licker-in cylinder 15, and also serves to reduce discharge of fly into the room when the new lap is being applied and while the card is still in full scale operation. It will be noted that there is no licker-in cover or bonnet overlying the lickerin cylinder 15 in this construction, so that the upper portions of the licker-in lying between the licker-in junctions with the feed roll 14 and back knife plate 17 are fully exposed to the suction chamber 25a.

The lower manifold section 25, is in the form of a generally rectangular cross section, elongated box-like member, spanning the width of the feed plate 13, overlying the feed plate and including a perforated top wall 33 joined by a rounded nose 34 at the entrance edge thereof to the front wall 35 and by a rounded surface 36 to the rear wall 37 adjacent the feed roll 14. The round nose portion 36 in proximity to the feed roll is perforated for the entire arc of the curve as well as the entire width of the top wall 33 underlying the lap 11a. The ends of the chamber defined by the manifold section 25 are closed in any desired manner, as by extensions of end plates 38 which close and seal the opposite ends of the upper manifold section 24. The interior of the second suction chamber 25a defined by the lower manifold section 25- is connected to a conventional source of suction, such as the air handling system of the mill by suction connection 39, here shown as extending through a hole in the feed plate 13, so that it maybe attached from underneath the card. If desired, the suction connection to the interior of the lower manifold assembly 25 maybe made from either end rather than by the bottom suction connection 39 shown.

Instead of using the usual solid back knife plate 17, the back knife plate is modified to preserve the lower knife edge 17a adjacent the junction between the licker-in 15 and main cylinder 119 and the upper knife edge 17b adjacent the junction between the flats chain and the main cylinder, but the intermediate region of the back knife plate is cut out to provide an opening 17c and screen bars 17d defining a screen which allows escape of dirt and dust from the region between the back knife plate and the perimeter of the main cylinder and allow escape and recirculation of tufts of cotton which have not been evenly distributed on the main cylinder clothing 18.

It will be apparent that by this construction, suction pressures are established in the second suction chamber 25a and communicated through the overlying lap 11a to the suction chamber 24a to capture trash and fly from the junction orifice A defined between the licker-in 15 and feed roll 8 and the junction orifice B defined between the licker-in and the lower knife edge 17a of the back knife plate 17, by drawing air upwardly through these junction openings A and B and create suction air streams to move the captured material, which is predominantly fibers, to the lap 11a overlying the perforated top 33 of the lower suction chamber 25a. The suction system is reg-ulated to remove more air from the general plenum defined by the upper suction chamber 24a above the licker-in than the licker-in plus main cylinder would be pumping into the upper suction chamber 24a. Thus, the entire area of the upper suction chamber 24a is under a mild suction pressure, creating a reasonably slow moving air stream which captures all fibers which are discharged from the junction zones A and B and redeposits them evenly on the filtering cotton lap 11a overlying the perforations in the lower manifold section 25. If desired, a small orifice, indicated by the reference character 28a, may be provided near the junction between the flats and the main cylinder 19 to draw some air from this junction region and relieve any small but possible blowout that can occur at this pressure point, and also to cause a mild flow of air down and around the bight of the flats chain 20 from the outside to convey an trap any fibers that may happen to fall in the curved upper section of the manifold defined by the baffle sheet 27. By this construction, a reasonable amount of suction can be applied to all of the licker-in pressure points, particularly those at the junction orifices A and B, without a disastrous loss of usable fiber, since all of these discharge points are separated from the suction system by the lap 1 1a overlying the perforated top wall of the lower manifold section 25-, whereby the lap acts as a very effective filter for usable fibers, but allows dust and short staple material to pass through into the lower suction chamber 25 for withdrawal to the remote collection point. The absence of a licker-in cover overlying and closely adjacent the periphery of the licker-in aids in keeping air from being pumped by the licker-in cylinder 15 revolving at high speed and allows a higher licker-in speed for better trash removal without the inherent loss of good fiber which would arise from comparable increases in licker-in speed where a licker-in cover is present.

Removal of the cover also allows the licker-in to partially unload itself, certainly of unopened tufts, so that it presents itself to the incoming fibers of the lap in a much sharper, receptive condition. Also, the maintenance of a mild suction pressure immediately above the junction orifice A between the licker-in 15 and feed roll 8 avoids the affects on transfer of cotton in this region caused by the high pressure air normally existing at this junction, and the absence of the significantly downwardly directed air stream through this junction A normally produced when a licker-in cover is present avoids the adverse tendencies of such a downwardly directed air flow to keep the long fibers of cotton from adhering solidly to the teeth of the licker-in cylinder and to blow fibers away from the mote knives or the baffles of a fiber retriever where they become lost in this cleaning section of the card.

Furthermore tufts of unopened cotton and loose fibers, which have not been evenly distributed on the main cylinder clothing and will not card properly when they reach the flats, are allowed to escape with pumped air through the screen defined by the orifice 17c in the back knife plate and the screen bar 17d as they pass upwardly between the back plate and the main cylinder, to be conveyed by the air stream in the upper suction chamber 24a and be redeposited back onto the lap 11a overlying the perforated top wall of the lower suction chamber 25 to be again attacked an dopened by the licker-in. The screen in the back knife plate 17 will also keep random, unattached fibers from rolling between the back knife plate 17 and the main cylinder 19 until they come off the upper knife edge 17b, where they may cause neps which cannot be restraightened and paralleled by the operation of the flats against the cylinder 19. Also, cotton fibers which continue to adhere to the main cylinder 19 after passing the screen in the back knife plate would then be smoothed down by the upper knife edge 17b and fed onto the flats 21 in an almost conventional manner, but with no air flow, since most of the air would already have escaped through the screen openings between the screen bars 17d by the time the cotton reaches the location of the flats. This general escape of air through the screen in the mid-region of the back knife plate 17 into the upper suction chamber 24a causes much less blowout and fiber loss at the junction between the flats 21 and the main cylinder 19 where inherent detrimental reversal of fibers occurs, because of the substantial absence of blowout air flow at this junction. Otherwise, the fibers at this junction would have a great tendency to follow the blowout of air. Thus, by the present construction, the fibers, fly and dust captured from the junction orifices forming the normal sources of escape of this material are captured by the suction air streams in the upper suction chamber 24a and conveyed to the lap 11a overlying the lower suction chamber 25a where the lap acts as a filter to collect and feed back to the licker-in the usable fiber material and allows the dust and short staple to pass through into the lower suction chamber 25a and out to the external collection facility. In this manner, effective suction pressures can be applied to the junction orifices where this material normally escapes to capture and remove this material without passage into the mill room, while preventing loss of good usable fiber material as waste.

It will be appreciated that the present invention can be applied with similar advantage to other types of carding machines other than the type employing a continuous and rotating chain of flat bars described herein by way of illustration. For example, the suction clearing and fiber retrieving manifold 10 can also be installed in the licker-in section of roller top cards which have a number of slowly revolving, clothed rolls replacing the conventional chain of flats bars, or in the licker-in section of granular top cards having a top plate overlying the upper region of the main cylinder covered on its lower surface confronting the main cylinder periphery with coated fabric material forming the granular carding surface. In such installation, the manifold 10 also defines a lower suction chamber below the lap directly connected to the suction source and an upper suction chamber overlying the licker-in cylinder and feed roll and communicating with the lower suction chamber through the lap portion leading to the feed roll to collect on the lap the usable fibers captured with the trash blowout from the junction orifices into the upper suction chamber.

What is claimed is:

1. In a carding machine having a main cylinder, a licker-in having a portion lying closely adjacent said main cylinder at a selected transfer zone for conveying fibers to the main cylinder, and a feed roll and underlying feed plate for feeding a fiber lap along a lap feed path to said feed roll and onto said licker-in, said licker-in defining first and second junction orifices with said feed roll and adjacent said main cylinder at said transfer zone respectively through which fly can discharge; a suction manifold assembly for capturing the fly discharged through said junction orifices comprising wall means defining first and second suction chambers, said second chamber including a perforated top wall forming a common wall of said chambers located immediately upstream from said feed roll over which the lap is drawn along said lap feed path, said suction chambers being in communication with each other only through said perforated top wall whereby the lap portion drawn over the latter forms an air-pervious filtering web separating said chambers, said first suction chamber overlying said licker-in and feed roll and said perforated top wall in open communication with said junction orifices, and means applying suction from a suction source directly to said second suction chamber to establish suction conditions therein and communicate suction conditions through said perforated top wall and the lap portion covering the same to said first suction chamber for drawing air and fly from the region of said junction orifices into said first suction chamber and conveying the same in flow streams passing through said covering lap portion into said second suction chamber to thereby filter out usable fibers and collect the same in said covering lap portion.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said first suction chamber is in open communication throughout with the upper portion of said licker-in extending between said feed roll and said transfer zone.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, including a back knife plate having a lower knife edge upwardly adjacent the junction between the licker-in and main cylinder and a body portion extending upwardly therefrom about the periphery of the main cylinder forming a bounding wall of said first suction chamber, said body portion having screen means therein defining openings therethrough for escape of air and fibrous material from adjacent the periphery of the main cylinder into said first suction chamber.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, including a back knife plate having a lower knife edge upwardly adjacent the junction between the licker-in and main cylinder and a body portion extending upwardly therefrom about the periphery of the main cylinder forming a bounding wall of said first suction chamber, said body portion having screen means therein defining openings therethrough for escape of air and fibrous material from adjacent the periphery of the main cylinder into said first suction chamber.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein the carding machine includes a flats chain upwardly adjacent the perphery of the main cylinder having a curved bight portion spaced above said licker-in and said back knife plate has an upper edge adjacent the junction between the bight portion and main cylinder, the accumulated area of the openings defined by said screen means being suf ficient to permit such escape of air into said first suction chamber from the region between the confronting surfaces of the back knife plate and main cylinder as to substantially completely eliminate any blowout air flow at the junction between said bight and the upper edge of said knife plate.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the carding machine includes a flats chain upwardly adjacent the periphery of the main cylinder having a curved bight portion spaced above said licker-in and said back knife plate has an upper edge adjacent the junction between the bight portion and main cylinder, the accumulated area of the openings defined by said screen means being sufficient to permit such escape of air into said first suction chamber from the region between the confronting surfaces of the back knife plate and main cylinder as to substantially completely eliminate any blowout air flow at the junction between said bight and the upper edge of said back knife plate.

7. In a carding machine having a main cylinder, a licker-in for conveying fibers to the main cylinder, a flats chain upwardly adjacent the periphery of the main cylinder having a curved bight portion spaced above said licker-in, a back knife plate having a lower knife edge upwardly adjacent the junction between the licker-in and main cylinder and an upper knife edge adjacent the junction between said bight portion and main cylinder, and a feed roll and underlying feed plate for feeding a fiber lap along a lap feed path to said feed roll and onto said licker-in, said licker-in defining first and second junction orifices with said feed roll and back knife plate respectively through which fly can discharge; a suction manifold assembly transversely spanning the carding machine for capturing the fly discharged through said junction orifices comprising end walls and upper wall means defining a first suction chamber bounded at one side by said back knife plate and along part of its bottom by said licker-in and said feed roll wall means defining a second suction chamber immediately beneath said lap feed path having a perforate top wall covered by a lap portion feeding to the feed roll and communicating with said first suction chamber through said perforate top wall and covering lap portion whereby the latter forms an air-pervious web separating said chambers, and means applying suction directly to said second suction chamber and thereby applying suction through said perforate top wall and covering lap portion to said first suction chamber to draw air and entrained fiber and dust blowout into the latter from the region of said junction orifices and effect suction conveyance of the same through said covering lap portion to said second suction chamber to extract usable fibers from the entrained blowout for collection in the lap portion and pass dust into said second suction chamber.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said upper wall means includes an upright wall extending from a location spaced above said feed roll alongside said bight portion, a substantially planar sheet extending from the lowermost edge of said upright wall beneath said bight portion at a location adjacent the junction of said bight and upper edge of said back knife plate, and a movable cover plate extending from the lowermost edge of said upright wall over said perforate top wall and having a free edge portion upwardly adjacentsaid lap portion, and means supporting said cover plate on said upright wall for angular and vertical movement of the cover plate to a substantially vertical position spacing the free edge portion thereof above said feed roll.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said upper wall means includes a shroud outwardly surrounding the bight portion of said flats chain in substantially concentric relation thereto and terminating in selectively spaced relation adjacent the upper knife edge of said back knife plate defining an opening therewith for passage of discharge from the bight portion therethrough into said first suction chamber.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim -8, wherein said upper wall means includes a shroud outwardly surrounding the bight portion of said flats chain in substantially concentric relation thereto and terminating in selectively spaced relation adjacent the upper knife edge of said back knife plate defining an opening therewith for passage of discharge from the bight portion therethrough into said first suction chamber.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said first suction chamber is in open communication throughout with the upper portion of said licker-in extending between said feed roll and said back knife plate.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said back knife plate includes screen means intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof defining openings therethrough for escape of air and fibrous material from adjacent the periphery of the main cylinder into said first suction chamber.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said first suction chamber is in open communication throughout with the upper portion of said licker-in extending between said feed roll and said back knife plate.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said back knife plate includes screen means intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof defining openings therethrough for escape of air and fibrous material from ad- References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 1,098,949 1/ 1968 Great Britain.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. 19-105 

